DAVOS, Switzerland — If Donald Trump had wanted to throw a hand grenade into the World Economic Forum, he couldn’t have picked a better way to do it than to threaten NATO allies with tariffs if they didn’t acquiesce to an American takeover of Greenland.

Instead of rolling up to a cozy gathering to discuss the economy and strike deals, delegates have arrived at a conference roiled by a transatlantic crisis that threatens to undermine NATO and the Western order that has kept Europe safe since the end of World War II.

As the conference gets into full swing, the streets of the sleepy Alpine village have become clogged with blacked-out SUVs and people dressed in designer gear or corporate suits.

The shops and businesses that would normally line the main promenade are nowhere to be seen, their signs replaced by temporary storefronts for the corporate and governmental sponsors paying top dollar to rent them out for the week. Branding for Meta, Salesforce and Deloitte sits alongside Invest India and Africa Collective, with their staffers handing out freebies ranging from hot chocolates to crampons that can be strapped over boots, dress shoes, or — as one stylishly clad delegate demonstrated as she navigated one of Davos’ more unforgiving icy streets — high heels.

Meanwhile, an army of support workers silently keeps the whole thing going. Cleaners vacuum up snowy slush from the Congress Center’s carpeting. Coat checkers oversee an endless rotation of snow boots, suitcases and designer puffer jackets. And attendants materialize to whisk away empty glasses or mop up spills.

It looks like business as usual, but Trump’s actions toward Greenland have changed the cadence of this year’s event, said Maciej Bukowski, one of the organizers of the Warsaw Security Forum, who was also involved in organizing a Davos pavilion on Polish business.

“Given the style of the U.S. administration now, I would expect a big bang on the day Mr. Trump arrives on Wednesday,” he said.

Many had expected this summit to focus on Ukraine, with Russia cast as the EU’s main adversary. Instead, talk is swirling around the danger posed by the United States.

Greenland is “an issue for those who have the skin in the game,” Bukowski said. “Those countries that have been explicitly targeted by the Trump administration.”

For Poland, he added, Russia, not the U.S., remains the “utmost concern.”

Officials from Ukraine have been left scrambling to keep the attention of delegates, with European leaders consumed by the unraveling transatlantic relationship.

A meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had been expected to be the geopolitical centerpiece of this year’s conference. Instead, it has yet to be scheduled.

Representatives from Kyiv are “focused on getting the message out irrespective of what the circumstances and conditions are,” said Lenna Koszarny, CEO of private equity firm Horizon Capital and one of the co-organizers of the country’s Davos pavilion.

“This full-fledged invasion has been already four years,” she said. “And of course, there’s different news cycles over these four years. We can’t control that.”

“I think we’ve got a strong message, we’ve got something to say, so I’m not concerned,” she added.

Down the promenade from Ukraine House, the U.S. pavilion is the hottest ticket in town, with long lines outside and delegates being turned away from the small non-denominational church playing host to U.S. speakers this week.

At the opening ceremony Monday afternoon, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent — who recently said Europe is too weak to guarantee Greenland’s security — called on other countries to follow Donald Trump’s agenda.

“I’m here to spread the message that America First does not mean America alone,” he said, under a stone half-dome lit up in MAGA red. “We invite friends, and potential friends, to follow the president’s lead for global prosperity, peace, and a restored international order based on fair trade and balanced trade.”

Speaking at the conference center, where attendees were serenaded by multi-Grammy award-winning artist Jon Batiste at the WEF’s opening concert, Alain Berset, the secretary-general of the Council of Europe, offered a philosophical take.

Trump’s Greenland moves are “just adding a new complicated issue” to the Davos agenda, he said. The situation is “unpredictable” with people “not exactly understanding what will be achieved and who wants what.”

As for the speech Trump is expected to deliver on Wednesday, Berset noted that the U.S. president’s previous interventions at Davos had been “kind of positive and polite.”

This time around, “let us be surprised, I hope positively, with what will happen,” he added. “If not, in any case, we need in Europe to work for ourselves and to define together what we want to achieve.”